Advertising Slavic Languages (was Re: alarm)

[Stephen Bobick]

  David Powelstock:
  [...]
  >I would also add here a comment regarding all the recent discussion of "the
  >market" for Russian speakers.  Indeed, there are more jobs for someone with
  >Russian than ever before, mostly in the Former SU.  There are also
  >opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe for speakers of the relevant
  >languages.  As this news spreads, I think we will see improvements in
  >enrollments.  (So spread the news!)  At the same time, we should not fall
  >into the trap of selling our wares entirely on the basis of JobsJobsJobs.
  >Many students take a language with an eye toward improving their employment
  >potential.  There are many others, however, who have intellectual
  >interests, who can become caught up in the fascinating process of
  >interacting with and understanding another culture.  (And the latter
  >motivation does not preclude the former.)  I am sure that many of you, like
  >me, experienced the study of Russian in this way, and we have students here
  >who are drawn to it for similar reasons.  Russian literature (and other
  >Slavic literatures) offer their own unique and fascinating perspectives,
  >perspectives undergraduates will not get from studying, say, English
  >literature.  (I have in mind, as an example, the ethical authority of
  >Russian literature.)  Places like Prague, Krakow, Warsaw, Kiev, and others
  >in the area, are exciting places to be.  The study of a Slavic language
  >(and literature, society, culture, history, politics) can greatly enrich an
  >undergraduate education, or even stand at its center.  College is more than
  >a job-training program.

I'd offer a couple more good reasons to studying a Slavic Language.

Firstly, in this day and age of multiculturalism, and understanding ones
own history and roots, many people of Slavic descent could benefit greatly
by learning about about their own culture and language.  Personally, I have
found this to be true, and I find it very rewarding to study my "ridna mova".

Secondly, I have found both Ukrainian and Russian to be very compatable and
complementary to my engineering studies.  The languages have lots of rules
and regularities, especially in the patterns of declension and conjugation,
that I find easy and fun to learn.  I often find myself applying an algorithmic
approach to learning the grammar of these languages, and am satisfied with
the ease and frequency that I am able to do this.

Also I have found that learning Ukrainian and Russian has helped me to
understand *English* grammar a lot better (and my 5 years of German did *not*).
The morphology of Slavic languages (the ones I know) really drives home
concepts of tense, the function of words in a sentence, clauses, phrases,
etc.  I was so happy when I realized that I finally understood what a
participle was.  :-)

  David Powelstock:
  >Incidentally, my Russo-centrism above is not meant to exclude other
  >languages and cultures.  I myself teach Czech literature as well, and our
  >department prides itself on being a *Slavic* department, not just a Russian
  >one.  Nevertheless, we should not forget which side our bread is buttered
  >on: many of our Slavic Departments would not exist if it weren't for
  >Russian.  It is absurd to confuse this with actual historical imperialism
  >in Eurasia.

I disagree.  There is nothing absurd about this at all.  Russia's imperialism
in Eurasia is a major reason for the dominance and centrality of Russia
in Slavic departments today.

But...

  >Studying (and teaching) Russian doesn't make one an oppressor
  >any more than studying Italian or German makes one a Fascist.

I don't think anyone said any such thing.   Nor did they imply it.  All that
was pointed out is that Slavic Language Departments are Russo-centric, and
it was suggested that it is time for them to broaden their faculty and
curricula to be more encompassing of the Slavic languages other than Russian.
I don't recall any characterization of Russian scholars as "oppressors".

-- Stephen Bobick